Eye of the Storm
by AspiringWriterGirl
Summary: Catastrophe- what no one saw coming. The Hoenn region never saw it coming, and in the aftermath of it all, things have turned dark. Roadside robbery, theft and assaults are on the rise, and it only gets harder for the new Pokemon trainers about to embark on their journeys. (Submitted OCs)
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, except Kaitlyn – she's my only character. In terms of other characters, Jacob belongs to Spidey108, Oliver – howponderous, Aimee – StormMoonRabbit, Jasmine – TreblePlayer67, Ashton – Apathetic Nonsense

A/N – So this is the first chapter of the story, enjoy! Be sure to review too!

**Chapter 01 – Littleroot Town**

Our first Pokémon trainer is seventeen year old Kaitlyn, and she was only travelling to the Hoenn region when it happened.

You don't know what happened? The storm – where were you when the storm happened, people don't forget about the storm that easily.

Kaitlyn was on a small passenger ferry coming into Slateport City when it happened. The torrents of wind ripped at the hull of the ship and a large rock tore a hole into the lower deck. As the ferry was taking on water fast, the captain made a decision to abandon the ship, but for Kaitlyn, she was just helping a small girl and her Cleffa safely onto the lifeboat when the ferry crashed again. She was sent into the ocean, and was being swept away from the safe hands of the lifeboats.

Floundering about in the rough waves, Kaitlyn had no way of getting to safety. The current swept her away for miles – even further away from the lifeboats. She continuously kicked her legs, trying to keep her head above the water, but occasionally, Kaitlyn would drop under the cold surface of the water. The shock sent her heart into overdrive.

"Spheal!" something squealed, lifting her above the water's surface, pleading Kaitlyn to take its help.

"Spheal?" Kaitlyn murmured, panting with exhaustion, but squeezing the spherical Pokémon as a flash of lightning hit the water in the near distance. If there was one thing that Kaitlyn didn't like, it was thunder and lightning.

Spheal paddled its flippers in speedy circles, powering the pair of them to the nearest bit of land.

The storm carried on and Spheal forced itself onwards through the rippling waves, floods of rains and the howling wind.

Kaitlyn's mind started to race and she thought about the slightly less important things. She began to worry about whether she would reach Littleroot Town to start on her Pokémon journey. Her sister, Hayden, had arranged for her to meet another girl n Rustboro City who wanted to start her Pokémon journey too. It was decided that the two girls would travel to the Littleroot Town Pokémon lab by going through the Petalburg Woods. Knowing this made Kaitlyn panic and fear what this newfound friend might think about being abandoned in Rustboro City.

"Spheal!" The Pokémon opened its mouth wide in anticipation.

Kaitlyn squinted at the horizon and a grin crept across her face when she saw the silhouette of a city below the dark gloomy clouds.

"Will this rain stop?!" Kaitlyn yelled above the thunderous noise of the rain, as if she knew Spheal understood her.

"Sphe-Spheal," her aquatic saviour murmured in agreement just before a wave splashed over the pair.

After they had tried to get close to land for a prolonged length of time, Kaitlyn was beginning to feel the exhaustion sweep over her whole entire body. The tiredness overcame her body as she feebly kicked to stay afloat.

"Zig-zag-goon!" a voice cried out faintly from in the distance.

Something dived down into the open water and swam towards our sinking character. Grabbing the straps of Kaitlyn's rucksack in their teeth, they pulled her up to the surface of the water and growled, hoping to catch their trainer's attention.

"Row – what are you doing?" a male voice called out. The guy hoisted what his partner had found in the water onto the deck, and was shocked when he saw a girl and a rucksack that one of the straps had been gnawed into.

"Row?" he asked as his partner clambered up onto the back of the small speedboat. "Who is she? We were meant to be looking for the underwater ruins ever since this storm cleared over."

"Zig-zag!" Row – his Zigzagoon, nudged the unconscious girl lying on the deck of the boat. "Goon, goon!"

The girl lurched into action, coughing and spluttering, emptying a lungful of water onto the decks. "What the hell happened?"

"And you are?" the boy asked.

"Kaitlyn – I was caught out in the storm and Spheal protected me for a moment, but I must have blacked out. Where are we?"

"On our way to Petalburg City – I'm Ashton by the way, and this is Row, she's my Zigzagoon."

In her head, Kaitlyn had now managed to piece together the fact that not only was she on her way to Petalburg City, but she was nowhere near Slateport City, and she had drifted for miles.

"Where's that Spheal?" Kaitlyn exclaimed abruptly.

"What? You mean this little guy I've caught in a Pokéball only this morning?" He held out a Pokéball to Kaitlyn. "It can't be yours – because Spheal's mine as I caught it."

"Okay, Ashton. Wait, I promise you, it's fine… I- I just. That Spheal saved my life and I probably wouldn't be here if Spheal hadn't saved me." Kaitlyn looked up at Ashton with bright blue eyes, deep down she hoped that Ashton would give the Spheal to her. "So… Do you know the way to Littleroot Town?" she asked, rubbing her eyes in an attempt to dry her face, despite having an already wet hand.

"Littleroot Town – I think I remember reading about that in the Hoenn guide, but I'm on my way there once I get this boat to shore. I said I'd give it back to the old guy later on today."

Kaitlyn held out her hand. "Thank you – I mean it."

"Err- you're welcome?" Ashton cautiously shook Kaitlyn's hand. "Come on, sit tight and we'll be in Petalburg City before you know it, and you might want to hold on. As Row would tell you; I am a bumpy driver."

"Let me, my father used to take me sailing around the Kanto region when I was a little girl with my brother and sister. Dad said I was always the best of the three of us at sailing – but that could just be because I was the youngest."

"I don't know, this isn't really my boat, and I don't want to have to explain to the owner why his boat has a huge whole in the hull… Not after he told me he insured it for hundreds, and thousands after the freak storm yesterday. I was surprised he gave it to me at all!"

Kaitlyn let out a slight giggle as she stood beside Ashton, nudging him away from wheel.

The wind rippled through the sail of the boat and the odd Wingull soared overhead. Above the pair, the skies were looking grey and overcast – the end of the storm was moving further away, but Row seemed hesitant. Normally, she would be at the head of the boat, feeling the wind rushing through her ragged fur, but now, she was almost in the center of the boat – far away from the sea and any wind.

"What caused the storm, Ashton?" Kaitlyn asked as she circumnavigated the sea towards the town that the other Pokémon trainer was heading towards.

"It was so out of the blue that I have no idea what caused it… But for all we know, it could just be a huge scale storm that happened. Not that the weather reporters do!" He paused momentarily, and looked out to the horizon. "Just wait until you see the devastation on Petalburg City."

"Why? What's happened there?" Kaitlyn asked, inadvertently looking away from head of the boat.

"Come on, surely you must know how a storm can affect a town on that scale, right?" Ashton raised an eyebrow, like he couldn't understand Kaitlyn's naivety. It was a humongous storm, of which it could be defined as cataclysmic – he just couldn't fathom it at all.

"Zig-zag-goon!" Ashton's partner sat upright as the boat approached Petalburg harbour. Row leapt off the front of the boat and onto the walkway beside the harbour. She fastened her teeth around a rope and growled as she pulled the boat into the harbour.

Kaitlyn's mouth hung open at the Pokémon's strength. "Oh my g- Is she alright? Stop her! She'll hurt herself!"

"She's fine, Kaitlyn. Row may be small, but she's stronger than she looks. Don't underestimate her strength because of her size." Ashton smiled slightly as he adjusted his glasses.

As Ashton handed the boat back over to its rightful owner, Kaitlyn stared wide eyes at her rucksack which Row had torn through one of the straps. The little Zigzagoon sped over to Ashton's side, disappearing in a red mist of her Pokéball.

Kaitlyn saw what Ashton meant when she saw how Petalburg City looked. The city itself was a little knocked and bruised. There was already reconstruction work going on on the Petalburg City Poké Centre. From what Kaitlyn could see, there was a huge gaping hole in the roof that was surrounded by scaffolding and a blue tarpaulin. Machoke and Machop were busy carrying materials up to the workers, even a Magby was heating up some metal and assisting in the welding process.

"That storm did that damage?" Kaitlyn looked at Ashton with big eyes. "I can't believe it – was anyone hurt?"

"Woah- calm down will you? Everyone is fine. Besides, Nurse Joy has it all under control." Ashton slipped his one strap rucksack over his body and turned to walk away.

"Oh don't be so rude, I'm just worried, that's all."

Ashton rolled his eyes, feeling like he couldn't get it right with Kaitlyn. "If you'll excuse me, I've got to go. You don't seem like you'd need or want my help anymore."

The girl's fists shook in anger. "Fine! You be like that- I'll make my own way to Littleroot Town!"

Storming through the main area of the city, Kaitlyn travelled towards a small forest that looked as though it was moving further into the countryside of the Hoenn region. Hopefully towards Littleroot Town.

As Kaitlyn started to wander through the forest, she felt a chilling wind blowing from behind her, and she was now regretting her wardrobe choice. It may have looked like a fashionable outfit with a purple top, blue tartan shirt, denim shorts, dainty white socks and converses, but this outfit was not designed for cold and windy weather.

"Just my luck…" she sighed.

Kaitlyn started to wish that she hadn't been so quick to allow Ashton to run away like he had done. Not to mention the fact that she was now undefended from attacks of Pokémon, or other trainers.

It was starting to get dark where Kaitlyn was walking, and with the darkness, came the noises of the nocturnal Pokémon. She could feel her heart thumping in her chest and she started to quicken her pace in the hope that she would reach Littleroot Town before nightfall.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, something made Kaitlyn trip and clatter into the bushes that littered the side of the path.

"What was that?" she exclaimed, looking behind her to see nothing there. "Well that was weird."

"Give us all your Pokéballs and supplies!" a low gruff voice demanded.

Kaitlyn looked up to see a masked bandit looming over her with bright amber eyes. "But I don't have anything! I'm fresh off the boat at Petalburg from the Johto region!" she pleaded that he would just leave her alone.

"Well I'll just take your rucksack anyway!" The masked bandit grabbed the only intact strap of her rucksack and ripped it off her back. "Haha," he sniggered. "See you around, loner!"

Kaitlyn was about to run after him when she realised that it wasn't worth it – there wasn't much in her rucksack that couldn't be replaced. There was a lone Pokéball and maybe a potion. In general, there may have been an extra pair of clothes that would be better suited to the cold weather she was experiencing now. Apart from that, nothing else was really that important to Kaitlyn.

A dim light lit up the path ahead and lit up Kaitlyn inside – she felt hope that she was nearer to a small town.

"You are kidding…" she muttered when she realised that it wasn't even a town, or even a hamlet.

**Thoughts from AspiringWriterGirl = I've been waiting to post the first chapter of this story – so glad I've finally written it! **** Tell me what you think of it – I'd love to know**


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, except Kaitlyn – she's my only character. In terms of other characters, Jacob belongs to Spidey108, Oliver – howponderous, Aimee – StormMoonRabbit, Jasmine – TreblePlayer67, Ashton – Apathetic Nonsense

A/N – Thank you for reviewing, favouriting and following this story, I hope you enjoy the next chapter

I'm surprised no one noticed that I labelled the first chapter – Chapter 01 – Littleroot Town yet it occurs nowhere near there! So at least this one is more realistic!

**Chapter 02 – Route 102**

Last we saw of Kaitlyn, she had come across a glowing light – which she originally hoped and thought that it would be a small town that she would be able to stay the night at.

The new explorer of the Hoenn region found herself looking at a small canvas tent that had been pitched under the shelter of the tall trees off the beaten path. In front of the tent was a campfire that a metal pot hung over. However, what was in the pot was the slightly charcoaled around the rim with a burnt meal and the fire was no more than embers.

"You have got to be kidding me," she muttered when she saw a particular Pokémon sitting guard in front of the tent.

A Zigzagoon – one that Kaitlyn knew as Row – her scruffy fur gave it away.

"Zig-za-goon!" Row growled at Kaitlyn and continued to call out to her trainer, like a guard dog alerting their owner of an intruder.

There was a rustling from inside the tent, Kaitlyn turned to walk away into the cold winds of the forest, but a voice caused her to stop.

"I knew it – I knew you would come back!" Ashton laughed upon realising that it was Kaitlyn – the girl he had practically fished out of the ocean, or that Row had. He looked bleary eyed as he peered out of the flap of the tent, grabbing his glasses and taking a while to adjust.

"No!" she said stubbornly as she turned to face him. "I did not! I came across your campfire and had to see who it was because I thought that you might be the girl I was supposed to meet in Rustboro City. But you're not, so I'll go."

"Don't be silly. You can't go wandering off in search of Littleroot Town when you are so far from Oldale Town – a place in between there and Petalburg City according to the guidebook. Besides, there are gangs and bandits out in these parts."

"Well, I'm braver than you think…" Kaitlyn replied weakly and began to feel the chill of the open forest air.

"Kaitlyn, don't be- er, I guess you can sleep in the tent…"

Her mouth could have caused an earthquake for hitting the floor. "No – no, I couldn't do that, it's your tent."

The next thing that happened was a woven blanket was thrown at Kaitlyn.

"You can take this blanket if you won't sleep in the tent…" Ashton disappeared back inside the tent, leaving the girl standing in the cold on her own with nothing but the clothes on her back and the blanket in her arms. It was like he didn't want to argue with her, or question her decision.

"Goon," Row sat up straight as a rustling could be heard in the near distance.

Out of the bushes, Row and Kaitlyn saw a Wurmple slide out and crawl along the dirt ridden floor. Kaitlyn completely lost her cool and staggered backwards, falling over a wood log that had been placed beside the campfire. A squeal passed her lips as the Wurmple's glowing yellow eyes walked towards, and then straight past her. Out of the corner of her eyes, she was sure that she noticed Row almost laughing – if it were possible for a Zigzagoon to laugh.

Bundling herself up in the blanket, Kaitlyn tried to make herself comfortable by the log making sure that no skin was left exposed to the ground of Route 102.

Early in the morning, Kaitlyn awoke to the smell of, something cooking. Originally, she hoped it had been bacon, but she opened her eyes and saw two sunny side up eggs sizzling on a black frying pan.

"Morning," Kaitlyn mumbled, neatly folding up Ashton's blanket in her arms. "Sorry about how dirty the blanket is…"

"Don't worry about it… I'll be able to clean it in the next river we come across. Come on, we better get going to Oldale Town – because I want to get to the Professor now. I want to get on over Littleroot Town as soon as possible. Oldale Town is the best place for you to wait for this girl from Rustboro City." Ashton noticed her blink rapidly, making him feel like he had overstepped the line.

"Oh… I was thinking that- that we would go to Littleroot Town together. We're both going that way so it makes sense that we go together." Kaitlyn stifled a sigh and tried weakly to hide it. "Doesn't it?"

"Fine – why not? But we'll be doing it my way, okay?" Ashton handed a plate of eggs over to her. "I'm only saying that because I've got a Pokémon partner whereas you, have nothing…"

"I will!" Kaitlyn snapped. "Well I would have had Spheal if you hadn't gone and caught it."

Ashton rubbed the top of his head, releasing some rogue hairs. "Hang on a little. I didn't catch Spheal – I was just playing with you, you know…"

Kaitlyn held back the first thing that came to mind.

A chilling wind rustled through the canvas of the tent making it flap uncontrollably. With Kaitlyn's help, Ashton was able to pack away the tent a lot quicker than he would have done on a normal day. For that, he was thankful, but maybe not so much that he had to share his food with her.

"Thanks for your help by the way." Ashton put his rucksack strap over his head and one arm. "That saved quite a bit of time."

A raucous squawk filled the air, alerting the pair of some other trainer's presence.

"We better get moving – you need to be careful, things have become dangerous after the storm. You of all people should know that."

"How did you know about last night?" Kaitlyn asked, sitting up straight, alert with curiousity. "You can't have known…"

Ashton raised an eyebrow at her, as if to ask 'what about last night?' "Can't have known what?"

Before Kaitlyn could answer, a small Taillow emerged from the bushes and delivered a swift peck at Row who lunged to the side. The Taillow shot up into the air, disappearing above the tree line and out of sight. Kaitlyn stared at the spot the Pokémon had disappeared through, when the bird dived down through another spot, ready to attack her. With a giant leap, Ashton pushed her to the ground where he landed beside her.

"Row – use Quick Attack!" he ordered, rolling over onto his back to see his Pokémon dart towards the Taillow that was gliding along the surface of the footpath.

There was a smack that made him grit his teeth – not because Row had landed an attack, but because Taillow had evaded the attack and led Row straight into the trunk of a large tree.

"You okay, Row?" Ashton called out, waiting for a response.

She leapt back up onto her feet and looked about for the feisty Taillow, nodding at Ashton.

"Maybe it's gone…" Kaitlyn suggested naively, standing up and cowering beside a tree.

She didn't want to personally feel the force of Taillow's Peck and knew that that Pokémon was not the one she wanted to raise herself. A whimper under the bush beside her caused her to crouch down on the floor.

"Oh no!" she squealed, undercovering a weak and defenceless Pokémon. "Ashton, this Pokémon's hurt! We need to get it to a PokéCentre right away. It's cold out here and I don't know how long it's been outside." Slowly reaching out for the Pokémon, she was scared when it growled at her. "It's okay, I'm here to help you. I promise. My name's Kate." Even though the growling continued, Kaitlyn placed her hands carefully on its fur whilst Ashton put Row back in her Pokéball. "See – I'm not going to hurt you," Kaitlyn said calmly, stroking the Pokémon's fur. "I'm going to pick you up now, but don't worry, it's all okay…"

As she picked up the Pokémon, she realised it was too weak to fight back and it gave in nearly automatically. "Ashton – which way to the nearest PokéCentre?" Kaitlyn asked directly.

"The quickest way would be to cut through the trees and completely avoid the path, hopefully that way we can stay out of trouble and we can avoid the ruins I've heard some Team Magma agents have been hiding out in." Ashton led the way, weaving amongst the trees as he flicked through the pages of a pocket map he kept in his back trouser pocket. "What's wrong with it?" He didn't want to admit it, Ashton had no idea whatsoever what the Pokémon was.

"I don't know," Kaitlyn snapped. "If I knew that, do you think I would be demanding to go to a PokéCentre?"

"Alright, alright," Ashton replied, speeding up so that he could get some distance between them. "Hurry up, you want to save that Pokémon, right?" he yelled over his shoulder, hoping she would run faster.

"I'm coming, hang in there little guy." She shook the Pokémon, hoping it would respond, but it didn't. "Quickly, Ashton!"

There was no one that wanted to get this Pokémon to safety more than Kaitlyn. She was a kind and caring girl who did whatever it could to make sure that each and every wild Pokémon she came across was safe and healthy. That's why this Pokémon was far more important to her than ever before.

"Te-ey…" the Pokémon mumbled, gnawing on the exposed flesh of Kaitlyn's arm, as if to say it wanted to be left alone.

Kaitlyn looked up to see Ashton running up a hill where the trees grew sparse. She felt her chest tighten the more that she ran, but she couldn't stop running when the need to get to the Pokémon Centre was so big. Deep down, she was desperate to get there, but there was also this niggling feeling that she might not make it.

"Ashton," Kaitlyn panted, feeling dry in her mouth as she struggled to keep up. "Do you have anything in your bag that could help?"

He turned and shook his head. "Nothing that will be remotely powerful enough in this situation. Only Nurse Joy will know what to do. The injuries look far too serious for any revive or potion to do any good."

By now, Kaitlyn had just about managed to catch up to Ashton, who had stopped at the top of the hill.

"It's going cold… It won't be able to last much longer," she replied, echoed by a whimper from the Pokémon. "Ashton – give me your jacket."

He folded his arms a little defensively, trying to say it wasn't going to help.

"Please…" Kaitlyn added dramatically, grinning when he finally shrugged his jacket off his shoulders and let her wrap up the poor injured Pokémon. "I'm sorry."

"What for?" Ashton asked, turning to carry on walking. "You don't really have anything to be sorry about."

"I thought you might think I was being a nuisance," Kaitlyn said, struggling to keep up with Ashton. She thought it would be polite to apologise, because she wasn't much use without a Pokémon by her side, and she was very reliant on him due to her own lack of a Pokémon partner.

The grass was wet with dew and possibly the rain from the previous thunderstorm, having only been out on a rescue mission, Ashton saw the true scale of the thunderstorm on the environment. It was beautiful to him and yet it was devastating to know the scale of the storm.

He reached the top of the hill quickly which allowed him to discover the quickest path to Oldale Town and the PokéCentre.

"This way, Kaitlyn!" Ashton called out over his shoulder, speeding down the hill and weaving amongst the bushes that were growing on the hill. "Come on!" He started to laugh, feeling the thrill of the race. The excitement was getting to him and he could feel his heart pumping in his ears. "We're nearly there!"

There it was. Oldale Town. It was a small, pretty and quaint little town that had the minimalistic and only the necessary amenities. Small clusters of houses surrounded a slightly bigger building with a flat red roof.

"It's the Pokémon Centre!" he exclaimed, pleased that he had managed to lead the way.

But when Kaitlyn caught up and the pair entered the Pokémon Centre, they realised that things weren't quite as they were before.

As a result of the storm and natural disaster, the centre had been out of power ever since, and there was only candlelight to work by.

"You've got to be kidding me," muttered Ashton, feeling that it was less than hopeless that the injured Pokémon would get the treatment it needed. He never thought that the storm could have had such an adverse effect on everything.

**Thoughts from AspiringWriterGirl = Hiya! There's another chapter done – I've also set up a forum topic where you can keep updated with the story and ask me any questions – but keep the reviews coming in!**


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